


A Picture for the Larder Door

by Eisfaerie



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Artist Frodo, Embarrassed Thorin Oakenshield, Frodo doesn't really understand how shaking hands work, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 11:09:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7100662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisfaerie/pseuds/Eisfaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I had a sudden vision of Bilbo proudly tacking up Frodo's first pictures. But of course Frodo arrived as a tween at Bag End, so those pictures would actually be much more sophisticated than little kid drawings of stick figures. But what would Frodo draw? Why, pictures of Bilbo on his adventures, of course!</p><p>This is a tiny ficlet of hobbit life, with a bit of Thorin thrown in.</p><p>Story is set in Determanfidd's Sansukh universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Picture for the Larder Door

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sansûkh](https://archiveofourown.org/works/855528) by [determamfidd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/determamfidd/pseuds/determamfidd). 



Bilbo was at his desk, trying to find a good rhyme for "lost", when he became aware that someone was standing beside him. “Oh hello there, my dear Frodo, is there anything I can do for you?” Frodo was holding something behind his back, looking bashful. “Here, uncle Bilbo, I drew this for you.” Frodo tentatively held out a piece of paper. “Why, thank you, Frodo!” Bilbo smiled broadly as he accepted the gift. 

When Frodo had first arrived at Bag End, Bilbo had been pleased to discover that his young cousin loved drawing. The older hobbit had been doing everything he could to encourage the boy to pursue this talent. There was now always plenty of paper, quills, ink, and pencils available in the smial. Bilbo had gotten Frodo his very own penknife, a beautiful object ordered from Erebor and decorated with Dwarven knots. He had purchased a very expensive Gondorian book on drawing techniques that had somehow made its way to Bree, and gifted it to the boy. Bilbo had even given Frodo access to his precious art folios, making sure to emphasize how delicate these books were and how they had to be handled with care. And any time Frodo would shyly show him a drawing, Bilbo had always made sure to praise it. 

For Bilbo, this first gift of a drawing was the best reward for months of nurturing the boy’s talents: Frodo had slowly grown confident enough in his own abilities to share his sketches with others. 

“Why, look! That’s me, on the back of an eagle! Well done, my lad, well done!” Frodo beamed at the compliment. “And all the dwarves are there as well. I can see Bombur and Bofur and Bifur, and there are Kili and Fili, and the Ri brothers. Why, I can recognize all of them! This is very good, Frodo, very good indeed. I think I am going to frame this as soon as I can get the right wood for it. I do have a question, though.” Frodo’s smile faded a bit. “What am I doing on the eagle’s back? Am I jumping?” “Oh! No, no. You told me that you were very happy to be rescued from the orcs and the wargs, so you are doing a happy dance! See?” And Frodo executed a few jumps and jig steps to illustrate what he meant.

It took Bilbo all of his effort not to burst out laughing. He was keenly aware of how sensitive young artists could be and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Frodo’s feelings. Instead he nodded solemnly. “Ah! Yes, I see. Of course, I didn’t really dance on the eagle’s back. I do believe that he would not have appreciated that. And I was too worried about Thorin to feel like dancing.” “Oh.” Frodo looked crestfallen.. “I should change that, I guess.” He tried to take the drawing back, but Bilbo would have none of that. “My boy, you do not have to draw things exactly as they happened. This is what is called artistic license. By making me dance, you are illustrating how happy and relieved I felt. Why, I am sure if I hadn’t been so scared, I would have danced a happy jig on that eagle’s back, whether he liked it or not!” Bilbo smiled, and was relieved to see Frodo smile back.

Bilbo walked into the kitchen, his nephew trailing behind. “Now. This goes on the larder door until I get a chance to frame it.” He carefully pinned the paper onto the wooden door. “And now, I do believe it is time for elevensies, Frodo!”

Soon scones, bread, jam, and a wonderful brambleberry pie were on the table, as well as tea, milk, and cream. The two hobbits ate in companiable silence, commenting only on the quality of the various food items. “Mrs. Gamgee has truly surpassed herself with this pie, my boy.” Frodo, his mouth full of pie, could only nod solemnly. “I must send her my compliments.” Bilbo mused. 

When all the food was gone and they were drinking the last of the tea, Frodo’s thoughts returned to his drawing. “I think I’d like to ride on an eagle one day.” he said. “Hm? Oh yes, well, perhaps, if you hang out with Gandalf long enough, you might get the chance!” Bilbo winked at Frodo, who burst out laughing. Bilbo laughed too. It was good to see the boy happy. 

“Oh!” Frodo said, as they were cleaning up the plates. “I promised Mrs. Gamgee that I would babysit Sam this afternoon.” Bilbo nodded. “Well, you must not let Mrs. Gamgee down. We don’t want to be cut off from her pies, now then, do we?” Bilbo winked at Frodo, who grinned and winked back. “No, sir!” “And what are you two boys going to do?” “I thought we could go on an adventure. Maybe go see Erebor and steal some of the dragon’s hoard.” “Hm, well, don’t take Sam too far on your adventure, my boy. He’s still very young and gets tired easily. And if you do steal dragon hoard, I do not want to have a visit from a local farmer complaining about missing mushrooms again. At least not if I don’t see some of that hoard myself.” Bilbo’s tone was solemn, but there was mischief in his eyes. Frodo giggled and tried to sound solemn himself. “Yes, uncle.” 

“And don’t you leave Sam alone! He’s too young to be left alone!” Bilbo yelled at Frodo’s back as the boy ran out. “No, uncle!” Frodo yelled back. 

***

A few weeks later, Frodo had a new drawing for Bilbo. Frodo seemed much more sure of himself this time as he handed the piece of paper over. “See? This is you and this is Mr. Oakenshield, and you’re both standing on Erebor, and there is the dead dragon, and everybody is cheering.” “And, ahem, are we... are we holding hands?” Bilbo asked. Why was he feeling embarrassed by this little detail? “No, you’re shaking hands, like the men do down in Bree when they congratulate each other.” “Oh!”. “Yes, see,, Mr. Oakenshield is saying ‘Thank you Bilbo, job well done! I’m glad to see you’re still alive!’ and you’re saying “Yes, sir, I am also glad to have survived the dragon!’” “Oh.” “I wasn’t sure how dwarfs say ‘good job, well done’, but I thought maybe they’re like men? Men are always shaking hands at the Prancing Pony, it’s very strange.” “Oh.” 

Bilbo had always been careful to heavily edit what had happened after the dragon died when recounting his adventures to fauntlings. He did not want the youngsters to think badly of Thorin and so there was never any mention of gold lust, or how the King under the Mountain had almost thrown him over the battlements. 

“Do you like it, uncle Bilbo? You’re very quiet” “Of course, Frodo! Of course I like it. I am sorry, my boy, I was just reminiscing about all that happened after the dragon died.” “I’m sorry, uncle, I didn’t want to make you sad. ” “Oh, Frodo, it’s not your fault. I just miss Thorin. He was a good friend, you know.” 

Bilbo headed for the kitchen, drawing in hand, closely followed by Frodo.

“Uncle Bilbo, how do dwarfs say ‘thank you’ and ‘happy to see you’?” “Hm? Oh, they press their foreheads together.” “Oh. Okay. Should I change my drawing?” ”What? No, no, no! I like it like this.” Bilbo carefully pinned it to the larder door, underneath the eagle picture. “There. Why, this larder door is slowly turning into an art gallery! I must see to getting the wood to frame these” 

Bilbo took two steps back towards his study before coming to an abrupt stop. “And when exactly did you get a chance to observe men at the Prancing Pony, Frodo?” He looked at his nephew very seriously. “Oh, uhm.” “Frodo?” “I, uhm, I went there once with cousin Merry.” “And why were you there?” Frodo was looking more and more embarrassed and stared intently at the floor. “Were you perchance partaking of the local beer?” “Well, see, uncle Bilbo, Merry said that the beer men brew is different from hobbit beer, and I said that wasn’t possible, that beer is beer and it all tastes the same. So he bet me my dragon doll that Mr. Bofur made against his share of desserts for a week that they didn’t. Taste the same, I mean. Well, of course we had to try them both to see who was right! Anyway, we only drank a little bit because Merry’s father caught us.” Bilbo, who had been trying to keep a stern face throughout this explanation, burst out laughing uproariously. Frodo, realizing he wasn’t going to get into trouble again, grinned at his uncle. “And what was the verdict, my boy?” Bilbo finally asked, after he got his laughter under control. “We both agreed that hobbit beer is vastly superior.” “As you should.” “But I lost my dragon doll.” “My dear Frodo, not to worry! I will write to Bofur and ask that he send us two Smaug dolls, one for you and one for Sam.” “Thanks, Uncle Bilbo!”

**

Thorin had arrived in Bag End just as Bilbo was asking Frodo what he had been doing at the Prancing Pony. He laughed at Frodo’s story, then smiled fondly at Bilbo. “Frodo is good for you, Bilbo. I have not seen you this happy in many a year. I am glad your cousin has come to live with you” 

It was then that Thorin noticed the pictures hanging from the larder door. This was something new! The drawings were marked with Frodo’s signature and Thorin was pleased to see that the youngster was already showing promising signs of talent. 

The drawing of the eagle rescue made him smile, although he was a bit puzzled as to why Bilbo was jumping on the eagle’s back. That seemed quite dangerous and not at all like what had happened. Still, Frodo had done a good job of capturing everyone’s likeness. 

As he turned his attention to the bottom drawing, he suddenly felt his face turn hot. There he was, holding hands with his Hobbit! And Bilbo had placed it here, for anyone to see! Thorin, deciding suddenly that he was feeling a bit ill, fled back into the the pool of stars. “I’m just a bit exhausted, that’s all”, he told himself, as he hurried to his room before anyone noticed how red his face was. Not at all embarrassed, no, that wasn’t it at all. Why should he be embarrassed? Not enough sleep, that was all that was.

After several hours of tossing and turning on his bed, Thorin came to the conclusion that Frodo had probably just incorporated some hobbity habit into the picture. He didn’t remember seeing any Hobbits holding hands, but maybe it was a thing that very good friends did. Yes, that was probably it: a sign of friendly affection, nothing more. 

Still, that night, he found himself wishing he could bring back a copy of that second drawing to his rooms in the Halls.


End file.
